I am a conscientious objector when it comes to fantasy sports. With football in particular, I enjoy the sport itself far too much. The fantasy aspect is a distraction and I really don't care to even watch games with people who are concerned about who scored a TD with 30 seconds left to close out a 49-17 game.
Having said that, I understand why a league involving a group of friends could be fun. My sons do this, with the results being many hilarious, outrageous, over-the-top arguments. They are highly entertained; good for them.
The big thing is that friends or coworkers having a league is a zero-sum game. All the money stays with the participants.
With Fan Duel and Draft Kings, the money goes not only to prizes, but also must cover operating costs (that much advertising is not cheap) and what most assuredly must be HUGE profit margins. It's pretty well documented already that the so-called sharks know how to tilt the odds in their favor while the casual and/or naïve players pay the freight. As I've said before, the business model is largely designed to separate teenagers from the money they made after school at McDonalds. In my opinion, it's cynical and greedy.
The NFL's involvement in this is nothing short of a disgrace. The league itself lobbied for the fantasy sports carve-out in an internet gambling bill to pave the way for fantasy sports to be legally regarded as a game of skill and therefore not gambling.
The NFL has long had an uneasy relationship with the gambling community, fearing the risk of corruption where gambling and sports coexist, but also recognizing that gambling and television were the drivers of the league's spectacular growth. Where the NFL cannot have any legitimate investment (legalized gambling), their attitude is holier-than-thou disdain and zero tolerance. When it comes to fantasy football where the owners can take a direct financial interest, it's every man for himself and anything goes. It reeks of hypocrisy and the unquenchable greed of the Billionaire's Boys Club.